Story Highlights

She did everything she could to come here and work. If I could, I would pick up 10 people like her.

Nuey Hart, scooping frosting for strawberry short cake, is known for her infectious smile at the Dining Facility. That smile recently got even bigger when she became a new U.S. citizen Jan. 21. Hart is on staff at Redstone Arsenal’s dining facility, where she is known as a hard worker and eager learner.

Nuey Hart, scooping frosting for strawberry short cake, is known for her infectious smile at the Dining Facility. That smile recently got even bigger when she became a new U.S. citizen Jan. 21. Hart is on staff at Redstone Arsenal’s dining facility, where she is known as a hard worker and eager learner.

There's a lot of laughter and merriment in the kitchen of the Dining Facility between meals as the staff works together to prepare the day's menu offerings.

And in the midst of the camaraderie, there's one staff member whose million dollar smile is hard to contain.

The smile on the face of Ruedeeporn "Nuey" Suwanapogdee Hart got even bigger recently when she returned from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office in Atlanta as a new U.S. citizen.

"Everything good for me. I'm proud to be an American," Hart said in her somewhat broken English.

"I'm happy to be here. It's good opportunity to be here. When I came back from Atlanta, we all cry."

Hart still feels those tears of joy well up inside her when she talks about being a U.S. citizen. Now she feels included as a resident in her adopted country. She feels like she is part of a great nation. And, even as important, she has the ability to come more freely to and from work at the dining facility.

"When I start working here (in August 2006) I have a little bit problem because I'm foreign," she said. "My husband had to drive me to work from where we live. He have to come pick me up. I couldn't get a standard badge and they had to do a background check annually on me."

Don't get her wrong. Hart is not complaining. She understands the reasons for such security measures. But she is also glad she no longer has to rely on her husband to bring her to work at 4 in the morning from their home in Madison.

Hart applied for citizenship last November. She was then given 100 answers and questions to study in preparation for her citizenship test. She went to Atlanta to take the test on Jan. 21.

"For me, it hard because I'm just learning how to speak and read," Hart said. "I had to know things like how many congressmen there are, the national anthem, and what the First Amendment and the Second Amendment are. There were all kind of questions.

"I think I am not going to pass. When in the room with somebody who tests you think you forget. But I went and I pass. My husband was more scared than me when I was in room testing."

It took about 20 minutes for each person to complete testing Jan. 21. The test included answering questions verbally, and writing and reading.

When the testing was over, Hart was sworn in with 145 other aspiring American citizens. Her husband was there to see her take the oath.

"I don't know how everyone felt. But I cried," she said. "My husband got to watch and he was proud."

Hart met her husband, William Hart, eight years ago while he was working for the Army & Air Force Exchange Service in Germany.